Monday, April 29, 2013

From Greenville Florida, we road east to Madison. Madison is a charming little town and the
county seat of Madison County, the poorest county in Florida. In the town park is the Four Freedoms Statue
based on the four freedoms described by FDR,
freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want,
and freedom from fear. Leaving Madison
County, we crossed the Swannee River and
rode through the rural countryside, far removed from the bustling coastal towns
and cities further south. Along the way
we passed many very nice homes and many which were in a pathetic state of
disrepair. The contrast was
startling. There were also many abandon old
houses and cabins such as the two shown below.

Four Freedoms Monument, Madison Florida

Swanee River

Rural Northern Florida

Abandoned Cabin East of Tallahassee

Abandoned Cabin East of Tallahassee

Rural Farm East of Tallahassee

Central Plaza in Gainesville Honoring Bo Diddley

We spent one night in White Springs and one night in High
Springs, which is a popular scuba diving area.
Unfortunately we didn’t have time to explore either. In Gainesville we stayed in the Hampton Inn
in downtown across the street from the central park. We were surprised at the number of people at
the open air farmers market who appeared to be stuck in a 1960s time warp. It was reminiscent of Berkley in the 60s.

Spanish Moss on Trees East of Gainesville

From Gainesville we rode through a number of swampy areas with lots of cypress
trees and Spanish Moss. Our hotel in
Palatka was on the St. Johns River and we enjoyed relaxing on a deck
overlooking the river. From Palatka we
rode to St. Augustine, arriving on the hottest day yet on the trip with the
temperature approaching 90F. Having
completed the cross-country portion of the trip, we took some pictures in front
of the city hall and had a great lunch at a Greek restaurant. That evening we explored the city on foot,
had a celebratory dinner at the Columbia Restaurant, and walked along the
outside walls of Castillo de San Marcos.
The next day we took a sightseeing tram around the city and toured Castillo
de San Marcos, Flagler University, and Flagler Memorial Presbyterian
Church. Henry Flagler was a founder of
Standard Oil with John D.

Arriving in St. Augustine

Rockefeller. He was instrumental in extending the railroad
to St. Augustine and building a luxurious hotel, now the site of Flagler
College.

Castillo de San Marcos at Dusk

Flagler College

High Seas and Strong Winds at Jacksonville Beach

Sunday we headed north along the coast past massive mansions
overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. We had
planned to spend one night in Jacksonville Beach but rain and 30 mph winds
force us to stay a second night. Tuesday
our destination was Callahan FL, about 25 inland from Fernandina Beach. We rode north through the beach communities,
took the ferry at Mayport across the St. Johns River and headed inland. In Yulee at the intersection with I 95 we
decided to spend the night at a Best Western, rather than continue to Callahan
to another no name hotel with no non-smoking rooms. From Yulee we rode through Callahan, took
ACA’s Okefenokee alternate route, entered Georgia, rode past St. George, and
into the Okefenokee Wild Life Refuge visitors center, where we saw our first
alligator. We spent the night in
Folkston and had a short 30 mile ride to Nahunta on Thursday.

Ferry Across the St. John's River

After enjoying the wide shoulders on most of the Florida
roads, entering Georgia, where there are minimal or no shoulders, even on the
roads with heavy truck traffic, was a bit of a shock. So far, so good.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

After riding out a day of heavy rain in St. Martin just
north of Biloxi, the forecast improved the next day and we rode to Bayou La
Batre, Alabama. From Bayou La Batre we
rode to Alabama Port and south across the Gordon Persons Bridge to Dauphin
Island. Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island on
the western side of the entrance to Mobile Bay and Fort Morgan on the eastern
side were important Confederate defensive positions during the blockade of Mobile Bay. We rode to Fort Gaines about a mile east of
the ferry departure point but did not have time to tour it before catching the
next ferry across Mobile Bay. From the
ferry we had a great view of Fort Gaines. We also saw oil rigs inside and
outside the entrance to Mobile Bay. On
the ferry we had an opportunity to talk with a number of locals and learn more
about Mobile and surrounding area. We
exited the ferry at Mobile Point and toured Fort Morgan. The fort had multiple lines of defense with overlapping fields of cannon fire. In many respects it was very similar to one of the
forts we toured in France a few years ago.

Cannon at Fort Gaines

Oil Rig in Mobile Bay

Ferry Ride Across Mobile Bay

Hank Exiting Ferry

Hotel at Orange Beach

From Fort Morgan we rode along a sandy strip
of land with beach houses build on pilings 15 feet tall to allow a storm surge
to flow under them. Our hotel in Orange
Beach was on the beach and we enjoyed cooling our feet in the Gulf after a long
days ride.

Cooling Our Feet in the Gulf of Mexico

Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola

Our ride from Orange Beach to
Pensacola was uneventful. In Pensacola,
we took a day off to tour the Naval Aviation Museum. Carolyn had been looking forward to touring this
museum since we initially planned our route and thoroughly enjoyed the
day.

Blue Angel's Sky Hawks

Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola

Florida Coast East of Pensacola

From Pensacola we rode along the
coast before heading inland, riding a few miles north of Interstate 10 through
rural countryside, part of which was swamps and much of which was managed
timber forest land where the undergrowth is burned off each year. We passed one area where the undergrowth was burning
as we rode by.

Hank and Carolyn with Al and Heidi Parker

We arrived in Tallahassee at the home of our friends Al and
Heidi Parker on Thursday. After spending a restful off day at their home on Friday, they rode with us out of Tallahassee
to Monticello where we had lunch.

Ray Charles Statue in Greenville

We
left the Parkers in Monticello and rode to Greenville, where we stayed in a
cottage behind Grace Manor B&B. Ray
Charles was born in Greenville and there is a statue of him in the town
park. Sunday morning thunderstorms were
forecast for most of the day so we decided to spend another night in
Greenville.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

After riding across most of Texas, we finally took a decent photo of a Texas Longhorn.

Rice Field with Crawfish Traps

We took Saturday off in Deridder, Louisiana and on Sunday we rode to Mamou, past
numerous rice fields. This being Sunday
in the Bible Belt, we had our main meal at noon, fried chicken at a gas
station/convenience store/restaurant.
While at the gas station I asked about the traps in the back of an old
pickup truck. The traps were for
crawfish. For the next two days we saw
crawfish traps in many of the flooded rice fields. Mamou is known as the center for Cajun Music
but on Sunday everything was closed. The
next day our plan was to ride to Simmesport but strong head winds blowing unobstructed
across the rice fields slowed us down so we spent the night outside Bunkie and
rode to Simmesport the following day. On
the road we passed through Chicot State Park, where we first saw cypress trees
growing in a small lake.

Cypress Tress

White Hall Plantation House

The motel in Simmesport was less than pleasant and we were
glad to leave, walking across a bridge with no shoulders over the Atchafalaya
River. Much of the land east of the
Atchafalaya River is protected from the Mississippi River by a 15 foot
levy. East of the Atchafalaya River we
passed the White Hall Plantation, built in 1849, one of several on the route to
St. Francisville.

St. Francis Episcopal Church

We also rode past St.
Stephens Episcopal Church and Cemetery.
The church and cemetery were consecrated in 1859. The church was constructed of hand made
bricks. The stained glass windows were
made in England. The Confederate
Monument was erected and dedicated in 1904.
At lunchtime we spotted a sign pointing to the Old River Landing on the
riverside of the levy. The simple
restaurant was built on floatation devices and anchored by poles 20 feet high
at the edge of the “Old Mississippi River”.
During one of the frequent floods along the river, the course of the
river moved a few miles eastward. Most
of the structures along this section of the river are either elevated
permanently or on floatation devices.
After a simple lunch and a delightful conversation with some of the
locals, we continued on through New Roads and across the new bridge over the
Mississippi River.

Confederate Monument at St. Francis Cemetery

Elevated Trailer Along Mississippi River

Restaurant on Floatation Devices Along Old Mississippi River

Crossing the Mississippi River at New Roads

The ferry across the Mississippi River closed after
completion of the new bridge. The old
Adventure Cycling route, which used the ferry, now bypasses St. Francisville,
but we chose to stay in St. Francisville and visit some of the sites.

Myrtle's Plantation House

The following morning we visited the Myrtle's Plantation, the site of several murders and thought by some to be haunted.

Central Hall of Myrtle's Plantation House

Oakley Plantation House

In the afternoon we visited the Oakley Plantation House where John James Audubon worked as a tutor and drew some of his bird sketches. Although often thought of as a naturalist, he
actually shot the birds and used wires to position the birds for his
sketches. The house itself was very interesting,
clearly having been built with louvers along the south facing porch for maximum
comfort during the hot, humid Louisiana summers. After a short ride to Jackson, we stayed in
the charming Old Centenary Inn and enjoyed a steak dinner at a local
restaurant. The following day we rode
past the Clinton Courthouse, built in1840.

Clinton Courthouse

Confederate Monument at Clinton Courthouse

Louisiana Logging Truck

Much of the route through central Louisiana is on country
roads through the forests, some native and others carefully planted for timber.
The lumber and paper appear to be the main businesses in rural Louisiana and we
saw many logging trucks on the road.
Most of the logging trucks gave us plenty of room when they passed us but
the road shoulders were littered with branches and small logs that had fallen
from the truck.

Guest Cottage in Poplarville

Our plan was to take Easter Sunday off in Bogalusa. Unfortunately the motel and the area in
general were less than pleasant, so we crossed into Mississippi and rode to
Poplarville just ahead of a violent thunder, hale and lightning storm. We stayed in a guest cottage behind a
residence and were even invited by the owner for wine that evening. We took the following day off and yesterday
rode 70 miles to St. Martin, just above Biloxi.
Today it rained heavily in the morning so we stay at the motel, working
on laundry, routes and the blog. The
forecast for tomorrow is improving so hopefully we can move on to Bayou La Batre
in Alabama.